Pappas' Grill in Vestavia is deliciously authentic

Pastichio with Greek-style potatoes and Greek salad is a favorite at Pappas' Grill in Vestavia Hills. (The Birmingham News/Michelle Campbell)

VESTAVIA HILLS, Alabama — The Greek restaurant tradition in Birmingham is almost as old as the city itself. Generations of Greeks and their Greek-American descendants have added a significant flair and flavor to our local restaurant scene. It’s why folks in Birmingham have favorite places for baklava as well as barbecue.

Pappas’ Grill in Vestavia Hills has its own history and host of fans.

The small restaurant has been serving fresh, authentic Greek cuisine and more for some 20 years in the same location. Like many locally owned Greek restaurants, this one is a family endeavor. Greg works the grill, Pat’s on the register and Ernie delivers food to the tables (and does whatever else needs doing, his mother said).

The restaurant promises “authentic Greek flavor in your own backyard,” and, indeed, this tasty blend of old world and new sees a prime-rib special on Thursdays after 5 p.m. and baked leg of lamb the very next night. It also appeals to a wide range of people. Lunchtime found the place packed when we visited (and it wasn’t even a Tuesday when the popular baked Greek-style chicken pulls in the crowds for lunch). During dinner, we noted that patrons ranged from a child of about 7 (who had asked her mom to bring her there after dance practice) to an elderly couple enjoying the pastichio. The restaurant currently boasts a 96 percent “like it” rating on urbanspoon; that’s with 174 votes.

Pappas’ Grill is not fancy. You order at the counter and find your own place to sit. The wall above that counter and the open kitchen are simply decorated with stock photos of the foods you can enjoy, much like you’d find in a simple taverna in Greece. The opposite wall is filled with photos of the kinds of sights you might see while sitting at such a taverna. A small cove of a beach beside an impossibly blue sea. A hillside dotted with whitewashed houses. A street of outdoor tables topped with colorful umbrellas. Ancient ruins, which of course abound there.

We visited Pappas’ Grill first for lunch on a recent Monday. While sampling several sandwiches and a few salads, we saw right away how the Pappas family manages to mix Greek and American favorites, sometimes even on the same plate.

A triple salad plate ($7.25) usually features tuna salad alongside chicken salad and a small Greek salad. They were out of tuna salad when we visited, so we substituted a tangy pasta salad instead. The colorful pasta, nicely firm, is sprinkled with oregano and Parmesan and studded with black olives and bits of fresh tomato. The Southern-style chicken salad at Pappas’ Grill is smooth and slightly sweet with just a hint of crunchy celery. The Greek salad is fresh, and they are generous with the feta.

Sandwiches satisfied for the most part. The Pappas family does all-American favorites like Philly cheese steak and hamburgers and Reubens, but here they are made with pita bread. We wanted to try the Greek burger, thinking it would be a nice change of pace, but it wasn’t available. So we settled on a Philly cheese steak ($5.95), a corned beef and Swiss-filled Reuben ($5.95) and a gyro ($5.25). All three sandwiches had generous portions of meat tucked into thick, grilled pita. Where there was cheese, it was melted to a sauce-like consistency, which made for a tasty, balanced sandwich. The gyro, with its thick slices of a beef-lamb mixture, seemed a tad dry, but a dollop of homemade tzatkiki helped.

A side of Greek-style potatoes didn’t turn out to be the large, rustic slices of skin-on potatoes we expected. These were small, mostly whole potatoes, and while they tasted of familiar, savory Greek spices, the texture was gummy. We did, however, enjoy another side of cool, garlicky, dill-flecked tzatkiki with triangles of the thick, grilled pita.

It was during a subsequent dinner that we realized why Pappas’ Grill has so many devoted followers.

The traditional Greek dishes here are the real deal.

It was hard to choose a favorite between the classic Greek slow food favorites pastichio ($7.50) and moussaka ($7.75). Both featured subtly spiced ground beef and a fluffy bechamel. In the lasagna-like pastichio, the pasta was cooked to perfect al dente texture, and the sauce smelled of cinnamon. The rich, savory moussaka had lots of fresh, earthy eggplant beneath its smooth layer of bechamel. We enjoyed a couple of different sides with these dishes. Thick green beans stewed in a tomato broth were a hit. So was the savory mix of spinach and rice.

We really loved the souvlaki — both chicken ($8.75) and beef ($10.95). They were out of our first choice: pork. Both kebabs featured large chunks of marinated meats, which were cooked between purple onions, peppers and tomatoes. The meats were nice and tender, and the veggies were grilled to a still-crisp doneness with the occasional charred edge. Delicious! We got regular rice with the chicken, and the juices from the kebab set atop it soaked in and imparted a fabulous flavor. We enjoyed more of the spinach-rice combination with the beef kebab.

All our entrees came with a small Greek salad — another thing folks in Birmingham tend to love.

Aside from their being out of several choices when we visited, we did find lots of great dishes at Pappas’ Grill. The meals we did eat were good enough to warrant additional trips to try to catch those other items on the menu. In any case, we’ve found an authentically delicious place for traditional Greek foods (and more).

Susan Swagler is a freelance restaurant critic for The Birmingham News.